Bridge-gate



(No Model.) v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1L. 7

W. J. BROWN -& J. K. WALKER. BRIDGE GATE. No. 506,099; Patented Oct. 3, 1893.

INVENTOHS 7 v M f ATTORNEYS.

(No Model.)

. 2 Sheets-8heet 2. W. J. BROWN & J. WALKER.

BRIDGE GATE. v

Patented 001i. 3, 1893.

WITNESSES: I

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM J. BROWN AND JOHN WALKER, OF COAL CITY, ILLINOIS.

BRIDGE-GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 506,099, dated October 3, 1893.

Application filed April 2] 1893- Scrial No. 471.291. (No model.) I

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM J. BROWN and JOHN K. WALKER, of Coal City, in the county of Grundy and State of Illinois, have invented a new and Improved Bridge-Fence, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description.

Qur invention relates to improvements in bridge fences or gates which are adapted to close the approaches to drawbridges, and the object of our invention is to produce a substantial fence, or gates which are automatically operated .by the movement of any ordinary swing drawbridge, which act to close the approach to the bridge whenever the bridge is opened, which open automatically when the bridge is closed, which are secured together and braced in such a way as to prevent any person from passing through them, and also to produce a very simple, durable, and posltlvely-working apparatus to operate the fence or gates by the movement of the bridge.

To these ends, our invention consists in certam features of construction and combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation on the line 1-1 in Fig. 2, showing in detail the closed gates or fence and the mechanism for operating them. Fig. 2 is a cross section on the line 22 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a broken sectional plan of the gate or fence operating mechanism and the connections between said mechanism and the bridge. Fig. 4 is a detail cross section of the gateor fence carriage and the brace for the fence. Fig. 5 is a sectional plan of the abutting ends of the gates or fence sections and the mechanism for operating the brace. Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail sectional plan of the lock for the fence or gates; and Fig. 7 is a detail face view of the bridge racks.

The bridge 10, is an ordinary swinging drawbridge, which may be turned by any ordinary swinging mechanism. It swings opposite the customary approach or abutment 11, and'on its ends and in different horizontal planes are the racks 12 and 13, which are adapted to engage the large gear wheels 14: and 15 which are journaled on shafts'16 held in brackets 17 in a suitable casing 17 of the abutment. The double arrangement of gears and racks is to enable the bridge to operate the gears and the gate or fence mechanism connected therewith when the bridge swings in either direction and each rack extends only across one-half the bridge end as shown in Fig. 7. The shafts 16 are provided with beveled gear wheels 18, which mesh with pinions 19 on a horizontal shaft 20, which is journaled in suitable supports 22 in the casing 17, and which carries a vertical beveled gear wheel 23, meshing with a horizontally-turning gear wheel 24:, carried on a vertical shaft 25, which is journaled in suitable supports and carries at its upper end a relatively large and horizontally turning gear wheel 26, meshing with a gear wheel 27 on a horizontal shaft 28, which shaft is held in suitable supports 29 and is parallel with the shaft 20, and at right angles to the travel of the bridge sections or gates.

The shaft 28 carries at one end a gear wheel 30, and this meshes with two oppositely arranged gear wheels 31, each of which turns a screw shaft 32, these shafts extending horizontally beneath the movable fence sections or gates and turning in suitable supports. The screw shafts have threaded on them the depending ends 33 of the fence or gate carriages 34, which carriages have trucks 35 adapted to run on tracks 36 in the upper part of the casing 17*, as best shown in Fig. 4, although the trucks may be omitted if desired.

The carriages are for the purpose of moving the fence sections or gates 37, which as shown inthe drawings, are constructed like an ordinary picket fence, but which may be of any necessary or desired construction, and may, in fact, be made flexible so as to be rolled up instead of being moved bodily. The fence sections 37 move toward or away from each other, being held to slide in slots 38 in the upper portion of the casing 17 and near the bridge 10, the sections being arranged so as to move across the street. The fence sections abut end to end and one has a socket 37 to receive the other, see Fig. 5, and theconnection between them is thus strengthened. The gates or fence sections are socured to the carriages 34 so that they will be moved by them, and one of the gates or fence sections has at itsinner end arevoluble shaft 39, which is held in a vertical position, and which carries at its lower end a brace 40, adapted when the gates or fence sections are closed, to swing out at right angles to the same, as shown in Fig. 4, so as to make a strong brace for the central portion of the fence or gate. On this shaft 39 is a pinion 41, which is adapted to engage a rack 42 secured to the opposite fence section or gate, and when the two sections or gates come together, the rack striking the pinion turns the shaft and throws out the brace, while when the sections or gates are pulled apart, the reverse action takes place and the brace is closed against its fence section.

In Fig. 6, we have shown in detail a lock- 1ng device which is adapted to firmly lock the fence sections or gates together when they are closed so as to prevent any possible separation, although other locking devices may be used without departing from the principle of the invention. As here shown, a bracket 43 is arranged near the central portlon of the fence, that is, at a point between the two sections and illustrated in Fig. 4, and pivoted in opposite sides of this bracket are horizontally swinging latch levers 44, having bent outer ends 45 to enter holes in the pickets or slats of the gates or fence, but the levers may be made to engage the slats In any convenient way. At their inner ends these levers 44 are pivoted to a slide bolt 47, which extends outward through the bracket 43, and which has a collar 48 behind which is a spiral spring 49, and the pressure of the spring is such as to throw the slide bolt normally outward, thus moving the inner ends of the latch levers toward the bridge and throwing the outer ends of the latch levers into engagement with the gate or fence sections. In the abutment or casing inclosing the slide bolt is a recess or slot 50, and on the end of the slide bolt is a circular abutment plate 51, or a roller, which is adapted to move through the slot and to engage the adjacent end of the bridge. It will be seen then, that when the bridge is in alignment with the street, so as to be open for traflic, it will rest against the abutment plate 51, so as to move the slide bolt 47 and throw the latch levers 44 out of engagement with the gates and into the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 6. As soon, however, as the bridge leaves the street, the spring 49 throws out the slide bolt and forces the latch levers into engagement with the fence sections or gates, thus locking them.

It will be seen from the foregoing description that the bridge may be turned in either direction, and as it swings away from the street it will actuate the gear mechanism described so as to turn the shafts 32, and move the gates or fence sections together, and when it swings into alignment with the street from either side, it will actuate the said gear mechanism and screw shafts so as to open the gates and fence sections.

It is obvious that the gearing for actuating the gates may be arranged in many different ways to produce the same result, without departing from the principle of our invention,- and it is also evident that the construction of the gates or fence sections may be greatly changed without affecting the invention; we therefore, do not limit ourselves to the particular mechanism shown and described.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The combination with the gate having at its outer edge a swinging brace, of an 0pcrating mechanism for automatically swlnging the brace into operative position to support the gate when the latter is swung into its closed position.

2. The combination with the two gates, and mechanism for moving them toward and from each other, of a swinging brace mounted on one gate at its outer or free end and a rack and pinion mechanism carried by the abutting ends of the two gates for automatically swinging the brace into and out of operative position when the gates are moved toward and from each other, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, with a swinging drawbridge, of separable fence sections adapted to extend across the approach to the bridge, a gear mechanism for actuating the sections by the movement of the bridge, an outwardlyswinging brace carried. by one of the fence sections, and a gear mechanism for actuating the brace by the movement of the fence sections, substantially as specified.

4. The combination, with the separable fence sections, of arevoluble shaft journaled on one of the sections, a brace carried by the shaft and adapted to extend outward to the ground, a pinion carried by the shaft, and a rack carried by the other fence section to engage the pinion, substantially as specified.

5. The combination, with the swinging drawbridge, of the movable fence sections adapted to travel across the approach to the bridge, revoluble screw shafts arranged to turn beneath the fence sections, an operative connection between the screw shafts and the fence sect-ions, whereby the turning of the shafts moves the sections, and a gear mechanism actuated by the movement of the bridge and arranged to turn the screw shafts, substantially as specified.

6. The combination, with the swinging drawbridge, of revoluble screw shafts arranged beneath the approach to the bridge, a gear mechanism for turning the screw shafts by the swinging of the bridge, carriages actuated by the screw shafts, and fence sections mounted 011 the carriages and held to slide across the bridge approach, substantially as specified.

7. The combination, with the swinging drawbridge, and the separable fence sections bridge, of latches engaging the gates when held to move across the approach to the closed, a bridge actuated operating mechanbridge, of the swinging latch levers adapted ism connecting the two latches for simulr 5 to engage the fence sections, a spring-pressed taneously releasingthem and means for throw- 5 slide bolt pivoted to the latch levers and ing saidlatchesintolocking engagement with adapted to normally throw them into engagethe gates, substantially as set forth. ment with the fence sections, and an abutment plate carried by the slide bolt and extending into the path of the bridge, substan [o tially as specified. Witnesses:

8. The combination with the gates and WILLIAM G. SUFFERN, mechanism for operating them from the T. B. TROTTER. 

